


Flood Gates

by orphan_account



Category: Borderlands, Tales from the Borderlands - Fandom
Genre: Anxiety Attacks, Christmas Feelings, Dissociation, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Mentions of past abuse, a lot of weird sad jack angst, but I don't say it outright, pure projection tbh, this is probably a little ooc for jack but I think it's his internal feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-25
Updated: 2015-12-25
Packaged: 2018-05-09 05:52:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5528456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack travels home with Rhys for the holidays, and ends up getting fucked up over it. Or the one where Jack doesn't know how to respond to healthy familial relationships.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Flood Gates

The first sign something was wrong with Jack was his suddenly quiet demeanor. For someone who was a chatterbox of man, Rhys saw that his behavior was the result of a situation gone wrong. 

The day had began as planned, their shuttle arriving on Eden-6 a little past eleven am on Christmas Eve, their train taking about two hours to get to Rhys’ family’s house. The train ride was normal, aside from Rhys debriefing Jack about seemingly everyone from his massive bloodline. 

“Geez kid, you’ve just told me, I don’t know, like fifty names, you can’t expect me to really memorize them, or put ‘em to faces or anything” Jack said, cutting Rhys off from his nervous rambling. 

“Uh yeah, of course not, I mean you probably could but I just want you to be prepared, they can be overwhelming sometimes and I mean god, you’re Handsome Jack, I’m bringing _Handsome Jack_ to christmas, it’s not like everyone won’t know _you_ -” 

“Hey, hey, hey, don’t worry” Jack said, placing his hand over the side of Rhys’ neck, “I promise I won’t do anything bad okay? On my best behavior, I swear, unless of course you want bad behavior”. He raised his eyebrows at his last remark, looking at Rhys questioningly.

Rhys rolled his eyes. Bad behavior with Jack could entail anything from murder to sex, neither of which Rhys was in the mood for around his family. Giving a pointed look to Jack, Rhys let out a huffed “I swear to god, you do anything this weekend and I’ll kick your ass”.

Jack grinned, the sunlight from the window filtering across his face. “Sounds kinky, I’m starting to like this idea. Growing on me pretty quick, maybe I _should_ be bad”. 

“Jack I need to know you get what I’m saying. You get it right? Don’t kill anyone. Do you hear me? No death”. Rhys knew Jack was probably kidding, but only probably. Jack usually only resulted to killing someone in front of Rhys if they had done something really bad, or it had directly involved him. Knowing of Jack’s both jealous and protective streaks, Rhys hoped no strange guest tried to hit on him, or for his cousins got too rowdy.

Jack raised his hands in defeat, “Fine sweetheart whatever you say, I’m not gonna kill anyone. I completely understand”. Rhys let out an exhale of relief too soon as Jack continued, “Or do I?”. If his shit eating grin was anything to go by, Rhys knew Jack was just fucking with him, but still narrowed his eyes.

“I’ll quit if you kill someone, I really will” Rhys joked, schooling his features to be comically hard. 

“Oh Rhysie, nooooo. I can’t be in that big office all day without you, I understand” Jack pulled his big doe eyes on Rhys, and despite the fact the pair were both joking, Rhys fell for it every time.

“Ugh, if you insist Mr. Handsome Jack. Can’t say no to my boss.”

“What about to your boyfriend?”

“That’s a different story.”

Jack let out a long whiny noise, “Ugh baby, I was only joking don’t punish me for having fun.”

Rhys smiled, “Whatever, just don’t be bad.”

Jack pulled Rhys against him, laying his head on top of Rhys’ own. “Darlin’, bad is my middle name.”

Rhys groaned at his joke, while Jack chuckled, the reverberations moving him, and he could feel Jack’s chest beside him as his laughter faded. Yeah, he liked this.

 

\-------

 

However, among the things Rhys didn’t like, such as blood, his socks getting mixed, and eggplant, Rhys _really_ didn’t like how much Jack was enjoying his mom's stories. Rhys was definitely a nerd as a kid, he was still, only he looked less the part now. He also liked to think he was a lot more suave, but everyone disagreed when he said it.

Currently his mom was in the middle of telling Jack the _hugely embarrassing_ things Rhys said after getting his wisdom teeth out. Jack was cackling, head thrown back to expose the long line of his throat which Rhys paused to look at before resuming his scowling.

“Oh Rhys, don’t give me that face, it was years ago, surely you can stop feeling so awkward about it now” his mom said, shaking her head lightly, and rolling her eyes in a very Rhys-like fashion in Jack’s opinion. 

“Maybe I could get over it if we didn’t have to bring it up every time I’m here. God it’s just-” Rhys buried his face in his hands, sighing. “I was on really heavy painkillers okay? _Everyone’s_ like that.”

“Aw pumpkin, you embarrassed? I thought it was funny, I can just imagine a little teenage you, all doped up and crying non-stop about robots. It’s cute, just like you now, minus the doped up part.”

“ _I do not cry about robots_. At least not regularly enough for it to be considered a thing I do. It’s only happened like twice, and both times it was completely justifiable, it’s not my fault our designs are so cute.” 

Jack let out another laugh, bringing his hand up to smooth along Rhys’ back. “Don’t worry princess, I won’t tell anyone about it.” Rhys was still embarrassed, but remembered all the embarrassing shit he had on Jack too. Not that he would ever dare let it slip. People finding out about Handsome Jack’s hard core air guitar sessions (among other things) might mess with the omnipresent scary-ruler persona he’s built up.

Rhys smiles at the thought, relishing his little bit of power he holds over his dangerous megalomaniac boyfriend. 

\-------

As the night progresses, Jack’s mood begins falling. Luckily for Rhys, it’s not in the angry sense, because he really doesn’t know how he’d be able to deal with that. 

Rhys’ extended family filters in, everything appears to be going surprisingly smooth. Jack sticks mostly with Rhys, sometimes hanging around doorways and watching on as Rhys talks with someone or helps his mom with a miscellaneous task. 

The only bump in the road is when a cousin roughhouses with Rhys a little too much, and Rhys’ squawk of panic catches Jack’s attention, and has him striding over. Jack lets out a low “hey there” before the cousin lets go, eyes going wide. Jacks subdued behavior seems only to add to the terror of the situation, and Rhys’ cousin gives Rhys a soft pat on the arm before turning on his heel to leave.

“You didn’t have to do that, I could’ve taken him on” Rhys says half heartedly.

“Sure kiddo, so you yelped for the heck of it then.” Jack’s smiling, but his voice is tired and his eyes seem glazed. 

Rhys considers his face, it’s relatively blank aside from the lazy smile, and Rhys can’t figure out what it means. “Are you okay?” he asks softly. 

Jacks nods, “I’m all good Rhysie baby, are _you_ okay?” Rhys can tell Jack’s deflecting his question, but decides not to pry. Jack isn’t much one for talking about his emotions, and certainly not in front of strangers. Rhys goes to grab Jack’s arm, only for him to flinch slightly. Now that’s even weirder. 

Rhys secures his robotic hand on Jack’s arm, steering him slightly to sit on the worn couch. Someone’s made a fire, and it burns brightly in front of them. The situation seems nearly perfect to Rhys, the warmth and pulsating glow from the fireplace, his family, hell he even got Jack to take off his jacket and waistcoat in an attempt to have him relax more. Everything’s perfect, except Jack. He’s too quiet, too solemn, too distant for the situation. 

Did something go wrong? Did someone say something off handedly that made Jack upset? Rhys is puzzled, and looks at Jack, about to ask him again if he’s alright. 

Jack must sense it, realizes Rhys worry, the question he’s going to ask. He cuts off Rhys’ first syllables with an interjecting “Hey, whaddaya say we go and help your mom? It’s rude to just sit around, right? C’mon, let's go.” Jack’s already standing, offering Rhys his hand to pull him up.

His timing ends up being impeccable as his mom actually does have something for the both of them to do, allowing Jack to avoid Rhys and his questioning. 

As dinner begins, Jack hovers near the doorway, a funny look on his face as people begin sitting at the many tables lined up together to fit everyone. A soft hand falls on the small of his back as Rhys shows him where to sit, and then seats himself next to Jack.

Throughout dinner Jack is something near to the perfect guest, answering questions politely, passing dishes, and overall refraining from his usual antagonistic behavior. Rhys is glad his family seems to not care much about Jack’s presence, because he knows how Jack hates feeling out of place, or overly feared. Sure, Jack’s the most powerful guy in the galaxy, but it doesn’t mean he’s _totally_ horrible. 

Dinner ends, and as the tables are cleared, and people begin to migrate to the living room, and overflow into the hallway, Jack pulls Rhys aside.

“Hey, I’m gonna go back to your room alright? Is that cool? I’m just like really feeling not good and I don’t wanna be a mood damper. I’ll see you later Rhysie, okay? Okay.” Jack speaks quickly, leaving no breath for Rhys to ask questions or interject before he’s turning down the hallway, hands in his pockets, and opens the door into Rhys’ childhood bedroom.

\-------

 

The social gathering that occurs after dinner can be described as chaotic to say the least. Each of the children were permitted to open a gift of their choice before going to bed. What should be a relatively easy affair is a madhouse of people looking on and talking, jostling against each other to see their kids faces, and watch them thank their Aunts and Uncles. The sheer enormity of Rhys’ family is enough too cause the situation to quickly be too much for Rhys, and he leaves to find Jack.

Opening his door, he finds Jack sitting at his old desk, shoulders rounded as he studies the papers below him. It’s really quite a funny picture, and Rhys takes a quick snapshot with his Echo eye. Handsome Jack in his childhood bedroom. He seems too large for it, everything about him standing out against the pale walls, his body too big for his chair, and his mood too dark for the bright light. The walls are filled with Rhys’ own drawings, coupled with a couple posters from movies he liked. He can’t believe his parents kept it like this, nearly untouched, down to the embarrassing bedspread, which is a rocket accompanied by “Shoot For The Moon” in red lettering.

Rhys looks away from his bed, and walks over to where Jack’s looking over his earliest robotics designs. They were for his arm, modifications really. Rhys already had his prosthetic, but was sure he could make it better himself. He must’ve been only about thirteen at the time, and his designs are rough. 

“I see you’ve found my finest work, would you like me to submit it for construction?” Rhys says, placing his right hand on Jack’s shoulder.

Jack hums thoughtfully, “Y’know these must’ve been pretty good when you were little. I mean what were you, nine, ten?”

“I was fourteen.”

“Oh, then they suck kiddo, sorry. If you keep working at it though, maybe one day you can work for Hyperion.” Jack jokes.

Rhys smiles, leaning forward to inspect the drawings. He didn’t have his Echo eye at that point, so he hadn’t thought about a palm projector, but was focused more on the precision of his fingers. He felt like his grip was too loose, and he was determined to fix it, even if that meant doing it himself.

“Oh, nice bed by the way” Jack says, interrupting Rhys’ thoughts, “Been to the moon, and it pretty much sucks, so I’d avoid it.” His voice is monotone, and Rhys remembers why he came to find Jack.

He spins Jack around to face him, prepared to confront him, when he suddenly can’t help but laugh at the sight in front of him. Jack’s way too big for this chair, his legs positioned tightly to fit in it, his shoulders reaching far off the sides. 

Jack cocks an eyebrow, watching Rhys calm down.

“Something funny sweetheart?”

“You’re just like huge and this chair is tiny, and it’s really funny. Actually the whole concept of you in my childhood bedroom is pretty funny, but yeah, I’m done laughing now.” Rhys still has a goofy smile on his face, which Jack returns with a tired lopsided one. 

 

Rhys looks over his face softly, the fine lines of his mask, how his brow is crinkled underneath it, the contrasting colors of his skin. Jack doesn’t move or remark, doesn’t pop his usual “See something ya like?” when he catches Rhys staring. He allows Rhys to roam over his face, Jack’s own heterochromic eyes watching those of Rhys.

Jack finally looks away from Rhys, out of boredom or being uncomfortable, Rhys can’t tell.

“What’s wrong?” Rhys asks, finally speaking.

Jack brings his eyes slowly to Rhys’, opening his mouth to speak.

“And don’t tell me ‘nothing’ because I know you pretty well, but it doesn’t take me to realize somethings up.”

Jack shuts his mouth. Then he opens it to speak, only to shut it again. He lets out a dejected sigh before beginning talking. 

“It’s your family okay?” He watches Rhys’ brow furrow, his face screwed in confusion. Had his family done something?

“No, no, no. It’s not like that. You’re family is perfect, super nice people don’t get me wrong. It’s just I- like I, I dunno.” Jack looks away, which Rhys considers unusual because he’s never one to break eye contact. “I don’t want to talk about this Rhys, it’s stupid, and unimportant, and boring, and stupid, and I don’t want to talk about it.”

Rhys sighs, hanging his head between his shoulders from where he’s effectively boxed Jack into the chair. “You know, talking about stuff, your emotions and shit, it doesn’t make you weak.”

“What?” Jack lets out, his voice heating up.

“If anything, like it allows people to help you. People like me, who love you and want you to be okay.”

Jack draws his eyebrows together as he begins to stand, looking Rhys in the eye. His squared off his shoulders, arms crossed, and head cocked in what Rhys can only consider to be a defensive pose.

“I don’t need help _honey_ , cause it’s none of your goddam business. And I’m not weak either Rhysie, ya got it? _You_ of all people should know that.” Jack begins to step towards Rhys, but the younger man keeps his face hard despite his partner’s increasing anger. 

“All I’m saying is that I want you to be happy, alright? I don’t know why that would upset you.”

Jack’s mouth is downturned, and he considers Rhys’ words before turning away to look out the window. 

The sun has set by now, but the glow of Eden-6’s blue moons settles across Jack’s face. The room is bright against his back, providing a contrast which seems to reflect his mood. 

He feels like something’s rattling around inside him, like a rib has broken off and shakes inside his body with every step he takes away from Rhys. Rhys, whose only trying to help, who only wants him to be happy, Rhys who’s too nice to be with someone like Jack. Rhys who doesn’t need this stupid friggin’ baggage Jack’s got, doesn’t need Jack to talk about it, but _wants_ him to.

Throwing his hands up in the air, Jack breaks the silence, but still looks away from Rhys. 

“Fine! I don’t know, and I feel stupid and shitty saying this but being with your family is really just weird, because you all like each other you know? Not in a weird tolerable way, but you actually love each other! Your cousin had you in a headlock earlier and you didn’t even get angry! And your mom! She loves you so much!” Jack continues, voice growing tight and fast “I don’t know, seeing a functional family, it makes me really uncomfortable, makes me think about how much I hated mine. Not in the ‘ya-hate-em-but-ya-actually-love-em’ way, but genuinely hate. People who didn’t do all this” he gestures broadly to Rhys’ room “People who didn’t do all this, but fucked you up instead, screwed you over, and made you a shitty person.” He’s run out of breath at this point, and brings his hands up to his hair, knotting his fingers in it tightly. 

Rhys can’t tell if he’s going to continue, but doesn’t want him to stop if he’s got more to say. He waits as Jack seems to deflate. Jack’s hands travel from the back of his skull down to rest on his neck.

 _Fuck_ Jack thinks, _fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck_. He can’t believe himself, how he’s said this in front of Rhys, probably made Rhys pity him, made him hate him. He feels like he has more to say, wants to go on about how being around Rhys’ family gave him flashbacks, how it got him scared really quick, and made him paranoid. Jack wants to talk about how he kept waiting for someone to kill someone else, or at least beat them half dead, because it’s what his family did. 

 

Jack wants to tell Rhys everything, but more importantly Jack wants himself to _shut up_ before he says something even more stupid, or reveals more about himself. He lets his hands fall to his sides, and squares his shoulders again, ready to turn to face Rhys, to leave if he has to. 

But before he faces Rhys, he feels his chin hook over his left shoulder, feels him turn and lay his cheek against him, nose at his neck, and his breathing soft.

“Okay” Rhys says quietly, “Do you wanna leave?”

Jack wants to say yes, but he’s not _that_ horrible to make his boyfriend leave his family for him. He’s also grateful enough that Rhys isn’t gonna press for more, or say much about Jack’s outburst.

“No baby, we should stay.”

“Mmm, no we should go. Don’t worry about it, my family is pretty big if you haven’t caught on, they won’t miss us.” Rhys smiles against his shoulder, “Plus, I bet on our way back to Helios we can scoop Angel up from Eden-5, I don’t think she’ll mind leaving.”

Rhys pokes Jack in the side, continuing on “If we leave now we can be home before tomorrow, and watch movies all day.”

Jack is totally up for this plan. He doesn’t hate Rhys’ family, not at all. Hates himself? Yeah.

“Hey, I can just leave early. You can stay, I know you don’t get to see them often.” Jack says. He wants Rhys to come back with him, but won’t ask him to do it.

“Nice try, but you can’t shake me off that easy”. 

\-------

 

Jack grabs their shared bag, because it was only supposed to be a weekend trip, and allows Rhys to lead the way through the house.

As Rhys goes and explains to his mom they’re early departure, Jack stands by the front door, listening in and avoiding the confrontation.

“Mom I'll come back soon, I promise, it’s just that there’s an emergency at Helios, and I have to go help take care of it.”

“Well can’t you two just take care of it from here? Didn’t you bring your Echo’s?”

“No we have to go up there, it’s important, and needs manual attention.”

“Isn’t your boyfriend the president? Can he do something about it?”

“That’s why we have to go, because we need to do something about it.”

“Do they really need you? Can’t you stay?”

“No, my job is like super important and Jack and the whole space station will fall to pieces without me.” 

Jack smiles. He probably would fall to pieces without Rhys. But he won’t tell him that, he doesn’t want to risk Rhys knowing if he ever leaves him. Jack’s heart drops for a moment and a frown occupies his face before his boyfriend pops into view.

“Hey are you ready? The train to the shuttle station leaves in like thirty minutes and it takes like 15 minutes to get to the train, and go through security and all that.”

Jack could probably just have a shuttle land directly at the house, but Rhys hates shuttle rides even with a smooth take off, so without a runway to make it easy the kid would probably barf.

“Yeah I’m always ready cupcake, I was born ready as they say.”

“Whatever, it takes you solidly thirty minutes to get ready in the morning. So I’m calling bullshit on being ‘born ready’, but we’re gonna be late so I’m not gonna argue.”

Rhys opens the door for Jack, and calls out a last goodbye before closing it behind himself.

\-------

 

Their shuttle is a late one, and primarily empty, because most people are home by now. Jack echoed Angel asking if she’d like to come back early, which she’d agreed to do, but opted to meet them at Helios instead of being picked up. She claimed it was “more efficient” and that she could “get away from this weird- although lovely- planet” quicker. 

So all that was left was for Jack and Rhys to make their own trip back, during which Rhys had fell asleep, and curled himself into Jack’s side. 

The shuttle was dimly lit, and quiet, and Jack was thankful for the lack of noise that seemed to encompass Rhys’ house. He felt guilty for having Rhys leave early, but didn’t know how much more of being around a happy family he could take, and didn’t want to spill even more of his guts to Rhys.

Jack shook the thought from his mind, opting instead to look at his boyfriend. The soft light of the stars outside the window, and what appeared to be Elpis distantly coming into view illuminated the smooth planes of his face. He looked infinitely peaceful against Jack, his rhythmic breaths calming Jack’s own nerves. 

He could live a five more lifetimes and never see something so beautiful, and never feel something so perfect.

**Author's Note:**

> So I tried to hint that Jack dissociates, and also at his npd. This was basically just a reflection of my day lmao. Anyways, its TECHNICALLY my first fanfic. I do creative writing but I've never done a one shot like this before so don't mess me up. Lmao I also forgot it was in html and just went and updated it to include my abuse of italics. Check your work before you post kids!


End file.
